Device for recording variations in the filling of cigarette rod along its length



1955 s. F. w. POWELL 3,199,110

DEVICE FOR RECORDING VARIATIONS IN THE FILLING I 0F CIGARETTE ROD ALONG ITS LENGTH Filed March 5, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 VIBRATING' CONDENSER ELEC TROMETER RECORDER Arrow/5 1965 s. F. w. POWELL 3,199,110

DEVICE FOR RECORDING VARIATIONS IN THE FILLING 0F CIGARETTE ROD ALONG ITS LENGTH Filed March 5, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY 44% aww A ro/WEE 1955 G. F. w. POWELL 3,199,110

DEVICE FOR RECORDIN G VARIATIONS IN THE FILLING 0F CIGARETTE ROD ALONG ITS LENGTH Filed March 5, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 u CD United States Patent 3,19%,116 DEVICE FOR REQORDING VARIATIGNS IN THE FILLING 0F CIGARETTE RG1) ALONG ITS LENGTH Gordon Francis Weiiington Foweil, Deptford, London,

Engiand, assignor to Moiins Machine Company Limited, London, Engiand, a British company Filed Mar. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 177,593 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 7, 1961,

8,289/61 3 Claims. (Cl. 346-25) This invention relates to a device for recording variations in the filling of cigarette rod along its length. In the manufacture of cigarettes many tests are made to check the quality and appearance of cigarettes and in particular the manufacture is rigidly controlled in an attempt to produce cigarettes of uniform weight. However, even if the cigarettes are of uniform weight there are naturally variations in the local densities along the length of the cigarette, because it is impossible to have the packing of the tobacco in the cigarette absolutely uniform. The result is that although the weight of a cigarette may be satisfactory it may lack uniformity along its length. In a case where a cigarette is very poorly filled at one part the cigarette is obviously unmarketable, but in any case a rigid routine sampling check is necessary to ensure, as far as possible, that in all cigarettes manufactured the tobacco distribution is commercially satisfactory.

Further, an investigation of the uniformity of filling of cigarette rods or of cigarettes is a valuable help in developing cigarette-making machines, as a study of the filling can sometimes lead to the discovery of defects in the design or construction of a machine. Thus a device according to the invention may be used to study a piece of rod having deliberately formed denser portions at intervals and as used in the manufacture of dense end cigarettes.

According to the present invention there is provided a device for recording variations in the filling of a piece of cigarette rod along its length, comprising a radiation gauge adapted to gauge variations in the mass of the rod along its length, a recorder having means, for example a stylus, adapted to record gauge readings on a record strip and electrically connected to the radiation gauge and means, for example a conveyor, for causing relative movement between the rod and the gauge, lengthwise of the rod and simultaneously causing relative movement between the recorder and the record strip at the same speed. In this way a record is the same length as the rod which may be laid against it for showing variations in the filling of the rod and the location of such variations.

As will be readily understood a cigarette is a piece of cigarette rod of a'certain length and therefore the device set forth in the preceding paragraph can be used to record variations in the filling of one or more cigarettes. This way of using the device can show the variation occuring along a portion of a continuous rod provided that cigarettes cut from the rod moved through the device in abutting relationship in'the order in which they were present in the continuous cigarette rod before it was severed.

The conveyor may comprise a clamp which can be fixed to the leading end of the record strip to ensure that it travels at the same speed as the rod or cigarette, the clamp having fixed thereto a pusher, e.g. a rod which propels the rod or cigarette through the radiation gauge. Normally a number of cigarettes are gauged in one operation in which case the conveyor moves said number as a column of abutting cigarettes.

The conveyor may comprise a taut wire or like flexible element passing around pulleys at each end of the conveyor track and also round a driving roller and the clamp may be fixed to the wire. The pusher rod fixed to the clamp serves to propel the rod or the cigarettes along a grooved track and is long enough to carry it or them completely through the radiation gauge. The driving roller may be driven by an electric motor with a hand-operated clutch interposed, whereby the conveyor is driven at such times as the operator chooses.

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing thedevice and certain other apparatus necessary to operate the radiation gauge,

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the device,

FIGURE 3 is a central section of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 4 shows details of a clutch used to drive a conveyor, and

FIGURE 5 is a section of the interior of the radiation gauge.

Referring to the drawings, the perspective view in FIG- URE 1 differs slightly from the other figures as it is a view which merely illustrates the main features of the invention, but the differences are only in shape and not in substance, so the same references are used for similar parts throughout the drawings. The radiation gauge and the electrical devices employed are all well-known marketed items and their main features are noted below. Referring first to FIGURE 1, 1 is a radiation gauge and 2 a recorder which makes marks on a web 3, as indicated in the view, according to variations in the local mass of a cigarette passing through the radiation gauge. In this example a number of cigarettes are being tested. The gauge .1 is an ordinary radiation gauge using Strontium source and an ionization chamber, while the recorder 2 comprises a moving coil carrying a stylus, or pen, to mark the web 3 and swing in the field of a permanent magnet. The web 3 is drawn from a roll of paper inside the recorder casing.

The precise electrical circuit for operating the radiation gauge is not material to the invention, but for the purpose of explanation it may be taken to be substantially similar to the apparatus shown in United States patent specification No. 2,832,352, at the upper part of FIGURE 12 up to the output from the cathode follower 70. The only substantial difference is that instead of having a balancing chamber, a counter voltage is applied in the manner described in column 13, line 71 to line 3, column 14, of this specification. In FIGURE 1, 4 is a vibrating condenser electrometer corresponding substantially in function to the electrometer shown in the aforesaid specification, and 5 contains the amplifying and auxiliary apparatus necessary for operation of the radiation gauge and comprising a drift-corrected D.C. amplifier and a cathode follower, and its output is fed to the moving coil of the recorder. A wooden support 7-provides a conveyor track having a groove 8 as can be seen in the upper left-hand corner of the perspective view. The remaining parts of the apparatus are best shown in the other figures to which reference will now be made. The time constant of the detecting circuit including the scanning unit and ionization chamber and electrometer is 10 milliseconds. The time constant of the recorder 2 is 3 milliseconds.

The cigarettes 6 are moved along the trough 8 and through the radiation gauge by means of a conveyor generally indicated at 9 and consisting of a wire 10 which passes around pulleys 11 and is looped around a driving roller 12. A spring 13 is interposed in the wire to tension it and a peg 15 is attached to the wire and to a pusher device 14 which is fixed to a clamp, generally indicated by the reference 16. The clamp comprises a base plate 17 and a clamping. plate 18 which is pivoted as shown in FIGURE 3 at 52 and can be openedby pressing on a lever 19 against the action of a spring 20. In this way the leading end of the web 3 can be fixed to the clamp. As the pusher is fixed to the clamp it will be seen that the web and cigarettes placed in the grooves move at the same speed, which in this case is 2.8 cm. per second. The clamp further comprises an abutment 21 whose purpose will be described later.

The conveyor is driven by an electric motor 22, FIG- URE 2, which is started and stopped by a switch 23 and a hand-operated clutch lever 24 is provided which works a clutch shown in FIGURE 4 and will be described later. The switch 23 is mounted in a box 25 which has a dial fixed to its upper surface and an indicating pointer which can be located against marks on the dial by a hand knob 26. In the interior of the box is a battery and a potentiometer adjustable by the knob 26 for supplying the counter voltage to ofiset the voltage generated by the current in the ionisation chamber of the radiation gauge 1 due to the radiation which passes through the cigarettes. counter voltage is adjusted by rotation of the knob 26.

When cigarettes are not being fed through the radiation gauge it is shielded by shields 27 which as can be seen in FIGURE 11 have handles 28 whereby a shield may 7 be dropped into or removed from the shielding position.

In operation of the device, so far described, a number of cigarettes are put in abutting relationship in the groove 8, the clamp 16 being at the extreme right-hand end of its movement and gripping the web 3. The operator then manipulates the clutch lever 24 to cause the conveyor to drive and the cigarettes are pushed through the radiation gauge 1 while at the same time the web 3 is being held by the clamp and the measurement of mass detected by the radiation gauge causes the pointer 29 of the recorder to mark the web more or less in the manner roughly indicated in the perspective view, FIGURE 1. The pointer is a stylus or pen of any suitable kind as used for marking record sheets and tapes. As mentioned above the pusher 14 is long enough to carry the whole of the cigarettes right through the radiation gauge and at the end of the conveyor movement the length of web marked by the pointer 29 corresponds to the total length of the line of abutting cigarettes. Thus it will be clear that the web bearing the record may be torn 011 from the following web and laid against the cigarettes in the same order in which they were passed through the device and in this way the variations in filling along the length of each separate cigarette may be readily seen from the sinuosity of the record. As will be readily understood this apparatus is for laboratory use in the general testing of the quality of cigarettes made in the particular fac tory.

The construction of the driving roller 12 and its associated parts are best seen in FIGURE 4. The roller 12 is mounted on a spindle 30 coupled to the motor shaft and is held between a disc 31 fixed to the spindle and a similar disc 32 which is slidable on the spindle. A clutch operating member 33 is constituted by a ballrace, the inner race of which can press on the disc 32. As the clutch member 33 is moved to and fro along the shaft 30 it will press the face of the disc 32 against the flat face of the roller 12 or release the pressure, according to the position of the clutch operating member 33. The member is moved to and fro by a pair of links 34 which are attached to the outer race of the ballrace constituting the clutch operating member. These links are pivoted to the clutch operating lever 24 which is pivotally mounted at 53 on a bracket 51 and is normally held in clutchengaging positions by a spring 35. When it is desired to break the clutch engagement the lever 24 is pulled to the left in FIGURE 4 and a slidable abutment 36 is pushed up to prevent the clutch handle from moving to the clutch engaging position.

The interior of the radiation gauge can be understood from FIGURE where 37 is an ionization chamber, 38 is a radio-active source suitably housed in a block 39, so as to radiate through a window 40 and through the The intensity of the cigarette rod which would be at the position marked 41 so that the rays passing through the tobacco mass enter the chamber 37 and cause the stylus of the recorder to swing in a manner corresponding to the local mass of the cigarette. The length of the cigarette rod which is instantaneously exposed to the rays is 3 mm. In order to prevent air gaps and to control the cigarettes accurately there is an upper guide 42 of arcuate section which can be moved up or down to a limited extent to adjust it to the proper position for dealing with cigarettes of a specific diameter. The guide 42 is attached to a pair of rods, one of which is shown at 42A, which are fixed at the ends of the plate 43 which extends some distance in either direction at right angles to the plane of the paper. At the middle of the plate there is a differential screw arrangement 44 which can be rotated by a handle 45 so that the movements of the guide 42 can be made with the utmost accuracy.

A further feature of the invention is a light clamping arrangement 46 which holds the web in position as shown in FIGURE 3 and enables an operator to tear off one web and yet have the following web in proper position to avoid any threading operation. The clamp consists of a pair of plates 47 and 48 which hold the web, the upper plate 47 being pivoted at 49 and being bent upwards so as to provide an operating lever 50. Recorded web may be torn off along the edge of plate 47. When the clamp 16 is moved to its extreme position at the right in FIGURE 3 the abutment 21 previously mentioned presses against the operating lever 50 and raises it so that the web is free of the clamping effect at 46. The lever 19 of the clamp 16 can then be pressed to enable the clamp to engage a new part of the web for the next recording operation.

After a record has been made the operator stops the pusher movement by manipulating the clutch and he can then draw the clamp and pusher back to the initial position, and put a further batch of cigarettes in the grooved channel for another recording.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for recording variations in the filling of a cigarette along its length, comprising a radiation gauge adapted to gauge variations in the mass of the cigarette along its length, a recorder having a stylus adapted to record gauge readings on a record strip and electrically connected to be responsive to the output of the radiation gauge so that the stylus movements correspond to fluctuations of the gauge output and a conveyor for moving the rod through the gauge and simultaneously moving the record strip at the same speed through the recorder, a clamp movable with the conveyor and arranged to grip an end of the record strip so that the strip travels at the same speed as the cigarette, and a pusher attached to the clamp and positioned to propel the cigarette through the gauge.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 comprising a grooved track arranged to support the piece of rod, an endless conveyor comprising a flexible element, a pusher attached to the conveyor and positioned to propel the rod along said grooved track and through the gauge, pulleys for supporting the endless conveyor and a driving pulley around which the flexible element is looped for driven engagement therewith and means for rotating the driving pulley and comprising a clutch with manually operated devices for engaging and disengaging said clutch.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 comprising a stationary clamping arrangement through which the strip is passed before the strip end engages the movable clamp, said arrangement comprising a fixed plate and a pivoted clamping plate cooperating with the fixed plate to grip the web sufiiciently to hold it in position and having an edge against which the strip may be torn, a lever on the pivoted plate and an abutment on the movable clamp arranged to move the lever to raise the. pivoted plate.-

5 6 when the movable clamp is brought into position to grip FOREIGN PATENTS the 110,673 11/61 Pakistan.

References Cited by the Examiner LEYLAND M. MARTIN, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 LEO SMILOW, Examinen 1,783,093 11/30 Molins 346--25 2,938,521 5/60 Lanore 131-84 2,984,352 5/61 Gilman 131-21 X 

1. A DEVICE FOR RECORDING VARIATIONS IN THE FILLING OF A CIGARETTE ALONG ITS LENGTH, COMPRISING A RADIATION GAUGE ADAPTED TO GAUGE VARIATIONS IN THE MASS OF THE CIGARETTE ALONG ITS LENGTH, A RECORDER HAVING A STYLUS ADAPTED TO RECORD GAUGE READINGS ON A RECORD STRIP AND ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED TO BE RESPONSIVE TO THE OUTPUT OF THE RADIATION GAUGE SO THAT THE STYLUS MOVEMENTS CORRESPOND TO FLUCTUATIONS OF THE GAUGE OUTPUT AND A CONVEYOR FOR MOVING THE ROD THROUGH THE GAUGE AND SIMULTANEOUSLY MOVING THE RECORD STRIP AT THE SAME SPEED THROUGH THE RECORDER, A CLAMP MOVABLE WITH THE CONVEYOR AND ARRANGED TO GRIP AN END OF THE RECORD STRIP SO THAT THE STRIP TRAVELS AT THE SAME SPEED AS THE CIGARETTE, AND A PUSHER ATTACHED TO THE CLAMP AND POSITIONED TO PROPEL THE CIGARETTE THROUGH THE GAUGE. 